Tribune Publishing Co. is bringing in reinforcements to power its transformation into a digital media company.

On Wednesday, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, announced that former New York Times digital products chief Denise Warren will be joining the company to direct its digital strategy.

“If you are in our business of legacy publishing today and are trying to navigate toward the future, we believe that it is the kind of knowledge and experience that Denise has that will get you to the top,” said Tribune Chief Executive Jack Griffin.

Ms. Warren will join Tribune in June and will oversee the company’s six east coast media groups – everything but the Times and the Tribune — in addition to overseeing strategy as the president of digital and helping run operations across all of the company’s properties as executive vice president.

She was a top executive at the New York Times until October. She left after 26 years when her position as vice president for digital products was eliminated and split into two jobs and she declined to take either one. Earlier this year, the Times named Kinsey Wilson, a former NPR executive, as head of the company’s digital product and technology operations.

Ms. Warren was one of the key architects behind the Times’ transition to a paid digital subscription model, and she oversaw the development of the paper’s applications for the iPad and various mobile platforms. She had previously served as the Times’ chief advertising officer.

“I will continue to support and foster the great journalism these brands are known for while trying to bring digital DNA into the organization and a mindset of experimentation,” she said.

Tribune spun off its publishing business from its broadcast properties last year. Mr. Griffin has announced a five-point plan to transform the company’s print titles into digitally-focused enterprises and to diversify its revenue base through digital advertising and marketing services.

In the first quarter, Tribune Publishing reported a sharp drop in profit and 5% dip in revenue due to declines in print advertising and in its commercial printing and delivery businesses.